AN OCEAN HORROR.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2869, 2 December 1890, Page 4

AN OCEAN HORROR.

Bv E. N. lv. Border. • «'f'.,,-,,i. ■!«• niorc thing* in heaven ;»nd ~,r V h! HorSio, thai. u«T droamt oE in thy philosophy." How very many tales, tola in an faith by the sea toilers, fail to obtain credence of tho more prosaic, matter of fact landsman. And yet how many deep sea sailors will throw doubt upon the most extraordinary story of the deep The reason is obvious, for verily "They that go down into the sea upon ships whose business is upon great waters, those, tho wondrous works of tho Lord." I quote from memory, and may uot be exactly by the book ; but the meaning is there just the same. [ can safely appeal to all that class who have travelled the mighty deep, especially to those who have done so in sailing vessels, and can vonture to say that few such will doubt the possibility of the story I have to tell. Few, indeed, who really understand what strange things can and do happen at sea will argue that the horror I tell of is impossible. The tales of haunted ships have bneu proved to be true in dozens of cases. Tho. . old-fashioned brig of the piratic days was frequently and unquestionably haunted by the unquiet spirit of some murdered wretch, and many are the authenticated cases of suicide by the oaptain of such a one, superinduced by the hellish promptings of the •'host of a helpless victim of his barbarity. Hence I offer no apology, think none ; .s noeded, for placing before iny readers the terrible tale of the aoa that follows.

" It was in tho year 1877 that I was supercargo of the handsome clipper Niobe, which, after a trip from England to New Zealand, loaded kauri gum at Auckland and sailed for Boston. Wo had a splendid passage, marred only by tho quarrels between two of the hands, a Holigolander named Charles Brietman and a native of Greaock named Janios Anderson. The Heligolander man was a magnificent specimen of humanity, six feet high, and about 13 stone weight; a handsome man, too, but for a slight turn in his left eye, and a way of showing tho whites of both, for all tho world like a "wicked" horse. At all ordinary work ho was a iirst-class Gunman, but where anything' dangerous had to be done it was easily aeon that he funked it. Liko all of his race, too, he preferred in u quarre? to use his jack kuifo whore an Englishman would uso Ills lists, and it was to iny sleoplossness one early morning in tho tropica, when I lay on the poop in a sort of dozy dream that the boatswain owed his life. Charley openly impugned tho bosun's word us to the time, and came aft to see i'or himsolf. When ho went for'ard again the bosun punched him in tho oye, and ho out knife and at him. The boatswain ran aft, and ■when he reached tho waist fell over a bucket full of -water just placed on dock by one of tho hands who way scrubbing , down. Tho noibo had roused me, and 1. threw oil' my rug and sprang to meet thy advancing , German reaching tho fallen man and blniddling him just in timi! to faci: Lhu would-b , ! murdoi'or, and catuli las strong , arm ;iti ho niiidt) to stub tho prostrato ollicor. I had to uso all my authority, and also play upon thliking ho liarl for me to provout a ■ •I'Huiii murder.

"Of course the eiptaiu was called, and oquully, of course-, tho incident went down in that terror to unruly seamen, the olnoial log. Knowing that I would bo tho worst witness agdinst him, if the case was reported. Charlie was always very civil and humblo to mo afterwards, arid got mo at last to uso my iniluouco with, the captain lo prevent its being reported, an olforL iu which I suceeuilorl, much to my subsequent sorrow

•■ 1 have. .•; lid tli.it Eriolmnn iuiu Auder.-wu iu;v(;l- could agree. The Scot was a little nugget about "'ft liiu., aiidas strong as a horse. Ho used Co annoy thu Heligolander by culling him " Dutchy,' and dialling him about not caring to luy out on the yard-arm in a breeze. Often had I been the very gleam in his queer eyes that was there the morning he tried to knife the boatswain, and I more than onco cautioned the Scotchman that lie would get hurt .somo day if ho did not quit chaffiing Charlie. Anderson was a man who know not tho meaning of fear, and only laughed at my warnings.

-Well, we left Boston with a cargo of ice for Calcutta, and had line weather and a quick run to the equator. Here we got some very dirty weather, and one wild, dark uight, when right on the line, the lianda were called it few minutes before infill bells (midnight) to ■ihorten sail. .Mrictuitui and Ander sou, neither fully awake, were stationed on the main top-galiaut yard. As they started to £0 aloft, the ship rolling heavily, Brietmau ■/iaibly hung back, and though lir 4ir.ii.ld have led on. to tiio yard, ho allowed Audi:i,son to go up

-.h'-it, Jnutny loudly uhull'ed, and i.uitudly cursed him fur a big' Dutch lubber, and as I .stood by the shrouds 1 saw in the darkness the devilish jjloain of Charlie's white eyes, and The thought Hashed across my mind that I would not earn to be outside of him on the yard arm and have j.i-.-ivioualy roused his murderous in.stincrs. -We on deck—all hands of , oiiw ;'.;, tlic watch liad not been relieved when the othor was called, could not see a yard from our noses, ;<o that, tin-, men on the yards won , ijiiite invisible. Suddenly, from the ice inn in yard arm eanie a cry,

• Ktand from under," and instantly .1 dark body ca.nu; hurling down, jirnek the rail with that sickening ihuil only a living body ii:iikcs in

falling, and bounced over into the sea.

It was no use trying to Unci anything out till tho hands come down, and out of the question to havo tried a rescue even had tho poor fellow fallen clear, so all wo coul-l do was to wait. Presently the sails were stowed, and the men descended. The last to reach the deck was Charles Brietman, and, pushing his way through the throng in the waist to where the captain, the mate, and myself stood, at the break of the poop, he reported that Anderson had fallen from the main yard-arm. Of course we could say nothing, whatever we thought, and the subject gradually faded fiom our memories.

We loaded again at Calcutta with a general cargo for London. Again we had n'ne weather till we got to the Equator. Here, right in the spot where the man had been lost, we suddenly lost our fair wind and fell in with the queerest bafflers the oldest man on board could remember. Wherever we turned our head, the wind headed us, what there was of it, and midnight found us barely holding steerage way, just where poor Anderson met his awful death.

As eight bolls struck, the watch came tumbling up, and were mustered by the chic , .? officer in the waist. As the watches began to separate, a voice was heard aloft, crying " stand from under." Everybody heard it, but sailors are so used to hearing blocks " talk :, that each individual thought he was the only one to make words out of what was doubtless the creaking of a block, so nothing was said about the matter. All the next day, and up to midnight, again the wind was either a clock culm or a dead baffler, and eight bells again found U3 where it had left us the previous night. Again the stillness of the night was broken by the mysterious I voice from aloft,

" STAND FROM UNDKK," and again all hands heard the weird call. ' This time there was visible uneasiness depieted on the face of the men, and when the watch went bolow, one grizzled old salt broke the uncomfortable silence by saying, " Mates, I thought I heard a voice aloft sing out'stand from under," and blast me if I didn't hear it the night afore, too. Just the way Heligoland Charlie sung it out the night that poor Jimmy went to Davy Jones' locker." This freed the tongues of the lot, then it was found that all had heard it on both occasions.

There was a very queer uncanny feeling among us all, and aft the captain, officers, and .nyself discussed the same thoine. During the following day the fact that the crew had got hold of it too came out, and the mate at length said angrily, " Well, [if he sings out again tonight, damn me if i don't sing out ' let go ; " (the usual formula at sea). The captain gravely advised him not to, but feeling mighty uncomfortable himself did not order him ; and the mate insisted.

We still boxed about amid flaws, and calms'till midnight drew near. A night of pitchy darkness, darker than people who have not experienced a tropic.il dark night can imagine. There was no need to uall the watch. All hands were hanging about long before the mournful sound of the bell clanged out on tho still and clammy night air, I must confer to a feeling of dread, a creepy coldness of the blood, and a premonition of evil that held me silent. Tho whole ship's company evidently felt similarly, and the stern voica of the mate. "Eight bells. Call the watch," caused every man aboard to start as if a cannon had been unexpectedly fired close by. It was Brietman;s turn at the wheel, and just as he grasped the spokes I passed close by him and saw that he whs deathly pale, and that the whites of his eyes shone like pale light, with a scared-wolf like expression. Not a man offered to leave tho deck, and as they hesitated on the main deck a deathly hush fell upon the ship. Suddenly, clear and startling, came tho cry from aloft—

''STAND FROM Oi'DKli," iitid as the mate stepped swiftly to the break of the poop all hands instinctively crowded aft and looked anxiously upwards. " Let go," shouted the mate, and before the sound of his voice had died away a dark body came whizzing down and fell close to the rail on the deck, where it lay huddled just as would the body of a man under the circumstances. There was a murmur of horror, and then the voice of the captain was heard, as drawing a revolver from his pooket he sprang down the companion on to the deck. "Every man in the ship's company must step over that object. The man who refuses I'll shoot like a dog.' . And he at once gave a lead, striding right over the fearful shape. The niatfH followed in order of seniority, then L came, and then the crow one by one bestrode tho still, dimly sueu form. A fciigli of relief went round, but the captain suddenly hailed the wheel: " Man. ut the wheel, come for ard here and stpp over this body/ .

Wil h staring cyoj and faltering footsteps Brietuiau lot go the, useless wheel, and cuiuu ilown upon Ihc duck. As lio neared the object upon which we all gazed so awestruck he tottered and hesitated. The captain's pistol was raised. ■'Come on, Brietman, - 'he said, "you heard what 1. said ; step across th at or 111 shoot, Brietman moved forward, lifted his left foot, and for an instant bestrode the shadowy body. There was aspriu;.', an awful, despairing yell, and before any of u;; could see how it was done Briteinan (low in the air with the Horror between liiw iegs, and together they went over tlio side into the black, deathly-looking water. With one impulse wo rushed to the rail and peeped over, but a cloud of phosphorescent light and a few bubbles

were all that could be seen ; Brietnian had gone below for ever. How do I account for it ? I can't. Revert to Hatulet's words which head this story. But in my heart, and in those of tho whole ship's company, many of whom no doubt are alive and may read this true account, now for the first time published, tiit; certainty is felt that Charles Brietmar. pushed James Anderson ofl' the yard that black, stormy night, and that his body, aye, the actual flesh and bone, wa? permitted to rn-appear and work its own vengeance on the murderer. That supernatual power was exercised over the elements seemed to be proved by the fact that within half-an-hour of the time Brietman disappeared we were bowling along with a fair wind for old England, a wind that never left us till we took the channel pilot.